


The Powers

by cavloe12 (orphan_account)



Series: Periodstuck [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1940s, Bombs, M/M, Military, Nazi killing, WWII
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 03:57:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/cavloe12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Dave have always been together, but when war separates them, how will John cope?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Powers

It had all started when you were watching your recently purchased television with David and his siblings when he saw a piece of news on Adolf Hitler. The report had made him so upset; in all your years of knowing him you had never seen him this angry. He yelled at the t.v. and stalked up to his room afterwards to sulk in his bed. You, of course, went running right after him. He was in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“What’s the matter?” you asked him.

“Those goddamn Nazis, why aren’t we at war with them yet!?” he replied.

“Because the last thing this country needs is another war. Think of all the people that’d die, and the families that’d be torn apart.” I told him that because he had a personal connection as his father had died in the Great War and when his mother had told him about it when he’d been old enough to understand he’d sworn vengeance on Germany and to this day hates them with a passion.

“I know, but they need to be stopped! Obviously they didn’t learn the lesson and if the U.S. don’t get into this and kill that bastard I’ll go to Germany and kill him myself!” he shouted at you. You encased him in a hug, sat him down on the bed and gently rocked him back and forth.

“I’m sure you will. I believe in you,” he smiles over at you and kisses you. Your whole body goes slack under the force he puts into it and that’s when you realize just how serious he was when he said that. It makes you shiver and cling onto him tighter out of fear of losing him. You never want to lose him, he’s the best thing in your life, he always has been.

The two of you had been a couple since you were sixteen. He had been your best friend since birth, but things had become troubling between the two of you in your teen years as he started to drift away from you and you began to realize that you might have wanted more than to be his best friend. Then one day he had caught you crying behind the school and the two of you had mussed out your feelings for one another and ended up making out for thirty minutes until his sister rose had come looking for you and tore the two of you apart so David could go home.

The only ones who knew about the two of you were the Strider family, your other best friend Karkat and your father. You didn’t think Karkat really accepted your relationship, but he didn’t insult you so because of it so it was all right. The Striders were very accepting of your relationship and talked openly about it among themselves. Your father, on the other hand, was disgusted by it. He had kicked you out of his house, disowned you and you now lived with the Striders in their large house on the outskirts of Albany.

“I love you,” Dave said, breaking the kiss. He laid down on the bed and I followed him, spooning against him as I thought about war and Hitler and how terrible life would be if Karkat, the Jew, lived in Europe.

“I love you, too.”

“Forever?”

“Forever and ever. You’re mine, Strider, don’t you ever forget that.”

“Yeah....” he said and you went to sleep curled in each other’s arms.

Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor or, as you can clearly remember President Roosevelt saying, “the day that will live in infamy.” And in infamy it did live to you and David. Immediately after the news had gotten to you, you had called your cousin Jade, who lived near Pearl Harbor to make sure she was all right. She was, but it did not calm either you or Dave down. You went to see Karkat who lived just inside the city with his blind wife Terezi and their small daughter Latula. Together the three of you conspired about things and made plans and vented on each other.

Along with the news of Pearl Harbor came the news of war. The very next day, headlines screamed “WAR DECLARED ON AXIS POWERS.” The day before, the three of you had agreed that if war was declared that you would go and become soldiers, not for your country, but just because you all hated Nazis so much. Especially Karkat and Dave, you, and apparently Dirk, were just going along with it and you didn’t really know why. It was probably the stupidest and mos dangerous thing you had ever done. But the adrenaline running through your system was telling you it would be the best choice you ever made.

You and Dave were separated almost as soon as you got into uniform. Dave and Karkat were put in a platoon going to England and you and Dirk were put on a ship in the Pacific. 

Days, weeks, months, years went by before you even heard anything about Dave’s platoon. You and Dirk had managed to stay together, jumping from ship to ship, port to port. The news you heard about Dave’s platoon, though... well, it certainly wasn’t good. 

Apparently there was going to be a surprise attack on the beaches of Normandy, one of the most heavily guarded areas of the whole French coast, by an armada of soldiers from America, Canada, and Britain. The code name was D-Day and you didn’t like the sound of it one bit. You were so scared for Dave and Karkat—but mostly for Dave—that you just could not stop shaking in your bed. You were so distraught that Dirk came over and slipped into your bed.

“What’s wrong, soldier?” he asked

“D-D-Da-Dav-v-ve, what if, what if h-he doesn’t l-l-make it th-through th-th-this. What if he- what if he...” you could not finish the question and buried you head into Dirk’s shoulder as a shattering sob wracked through your body.

“Shh, shh, shush little guy, he’ll be all right, he is a Strider. Strider’s don’t let things like this get them down. We just fight and fight and pull through to the end.” He pulled you into his arms and let you cry yourself to sleep there.

*.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.*

You got out of the little boat that was packed full of soldiers like you and swam through the shoulder-deep water that you knew had bombs at the bottom until you got to the beach, your best buddy and fellow soldier, Karkat right behind you. You waited for him to reach the beach and then continued your journey towards the barricades, shooting wildly and throwing grenades as closely to you target as possible. You didn’t see anything except bright flashes of light and the buildings in front of you, you didn’t hear anything but the sound of dying comrades and explosions. 

You were only barely paying attention to the things around you as fear and adrenaline coursed through your body, pushing you forward. That is, until a bomb exploded about 200 ft away from you, so that you were just outside the blast range, but Karkat wasn’t. You yelled out his name as you watched him burn to ashes in the flames. Watched him scream in pain as the heat took him over and disintegrated him, roasted him piece by piece.

You took out your pocket watch and flipped it open. The date was June 6, 1944 and you looked at the picture of John encased in the top and smiled.

But then, after what seemed like forever you felt a flare of heat on the left side of your face and you collapsed.

*.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.*

Two days later, Dirk got a telegram, but you stole it from him and read it first.

To Mr. Dirk Strider,

Your brother, David Strider, has been dispatched from the military because of injuries he acquired as of recent events. He was just outside a blast range when a bomb went off and, thankfully, his injuries were not too fatal, but they were rather serious. He has 1st-degree burns along the left side of his body which will leave permanent scars, he is partially deaf in his left ear; he has amnesia from a concussion and the only thing he can remember is the death of his comrade Karkat Vantas and the boy who lives with you, John Egbert. His burns are being treated; he is recovering quite smoothly and is expected to return home within the next three weeks.

Long Island Military Hospital, Chief Consultant Dr. Nitram

By the end of the letter, tears were streaming down your face. Tears of happiness, tears of sadness. Karkat was dead. Dave wasn’t. Oh, you were so confused! Should you cry for the death his friend or for the life of your lover?

You walked out of your cabin and gave the letter back to Dirk.

“What’s wrong?”

“Karkat’s dead,” you replied.

“Oh. Well, is Dave?”

“No.”

“Well that’s good, then isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I shouldn’t be happy because Karkat is dead, but I am happy because Dave is alive and I don’t know how to feel!”

“Uh... I really have no idea what to say, but—" 

“Oh, and Dave has amnesia and can’t remember anything but me and Karkat’s death.”

“Wait, what? You know, I’m just gonna read the letter.”

“Okay.”

A little over a year passed until the war was won and you and Dirk could go home, safe as can be. You took a train across the country, but stopped in Albany to visit Terezi and Latula, as it was Latula’s 6th birthday. They spent the day there and you took on the job of comforting Terezi after Latula mentioned her father while opening her presents.

Afterwards you drove up to their house and when they got there, you ran into the house, up the stairs and into Dave’s bedroom, where you found the boy sleeping on his bed. You saw the scars that covered the left side of his face and couldn’t help but go sob over his bedside. It woke him up and soon you felt a hand stroking your hair and looked up.

Dave smiled at you and you bounced up and gently hugged him so as to not hurt him.

“John, I’m not glass, I won’t shatter if you hug me,” he said and so you hugged him as tightly as you could.

“Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, oh goodness Dave! I’m so glad you’re alive I’m so happy to see you! Oh, Dave I love you, I love you so much and I’ll never leave you ever again. I don’t care about any damn Germans or Nazis or fascists or anything, I just want to never leave your side ever again. I was so scared! I worried every day, wondering when Dirk would get the telegram saying you were dead. And when I heard you were going to be in the D-Day! Oh, Dave never leave me ever again, you’ve got to promise me. Swear on your father’s grave!”

“I swear, I swear! Geez, John, I missed you too. Especially in that Hospital, I couldn’t stop worrying about you, and I couldn’t remember anything but you. It was terrible. I’ll never leave you ever again; I’ve had my fill of Nazi killing.” He raised his hands to your cheeks and pulled you face so you were looking directly into his scarlet eyes.

“I love you, John Egbert. I may never remember anything but that, but I remember, I remember with all of my heart, that I love you more than anything in the world. I may become deaf and never hear you tell me you love me ever again, but I’ll still love you.”

“Oh, stuff it!” you said and kissed him hard.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, thank you! This is my first time posting on this website. If you couldn't tell, I was going to make this a lot more dramatic. I was going to have John and Dirk sleep together then have John shoot his hand so he could be dispatched too, but I decided to keep it simple, I hope you like it that way!


End file.
